Gilbert 'Gib' Southern

Gilbert (Gib) Southern, 91, a resident of Winston-Salem for 61 years, died on August 21, 2013, at Oak Forest Health and Rehabilitation Center after a brief illness. Gib was born June 22, 1929, to Charles G. and Emma Shackleford Southern of High Point. His father came from Stokes County and his mother from Surry County. Gib was the fifth of five children. Charles G. Southern died in 1924. Two half-sisters were born to Emma after her marriage in 1925 to Luther Cassell. Gib attended High Point High School and was graduated in 1940. In 1942 he joined the U.S. Navy. After boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Training School, Gib was sent to the radio school at the University of Wisconsin. As one of the five recruits making the highest grades, he received his choice of assignment in the Navy. Gib asked for PT boats and received orders to the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center at Melville, Rhode Island, where he was assigned to and finished his training in May 1943 aboard PT-355 (""Hell's Cargo""). PT-355 fought in numerous operations in the Southwest Pacific Theater in 1944-45. Though displacing only 50 tons, PT boats combined speed (4,500 horsepower and a top speed of over 40 knots) with armament that included torpedos and several types of heavy secondary weapons. At battle stations Gib manned the 40mm Bofors cannon on the boat's stern. Gib married Janet Campbell in 1942; they had two sons, Gilbert Edwin Jr. and Phillip. They were divorced in 1973. Gib married Evelyn Sheek of Winston-Salem in 1987, who died only a few weeks before Gib's own death. Gib had shown an early talent in drawing, design, and printing and joined the advertising staff of the High Point Enterprise in 1948. Gib and his family moved to Winston-Salem, where Gib had joined the display advertising department of the Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel in June 1952. Except for brief departures from the Journal in the 1960s to join Kenbert Advertising and to operate his own advertising agency, Gib worked for the Journal until his retirement in 1984. In his last years with the paper, he was manager of the Creative Advertising Department. Before and during his retirement, Gib enjoyed fishing, astronomy, and exploring his ancestral Stokes and Surry Counties. Gib corresponded with several old Navy buddies, and his passionate hobby in retirement was the history of PT boats and the Pacific War. Gib is survived by son Gilbert Edwin Jr, and daughter-in-law Mary Ann Wilkins Southern of Hillsborough, NC, and son Phillip Southern of New York, NY. Gib's four Southern brothers and sisters pre-deceased him. Also surviving are his half-sisters Frances Elizabeth Cassell Melvin of Longs, SC, and Martha Geraldine Cassell Hardister, of Little River, SC. Also surviving are many nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at Hayworth-Miller Funeral Home at 3315 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem NC, on August 24, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Forsyth Humane Society, 61 Miller Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27104 for cat care.

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